Is that a vortex I see, or is the universe just pleased to see me?

There is definitely some vacuum-like action going on in the world around me. The kill-me-now workplace has sucked me in and is refusing to spit me back out, much to my disapproval. Will I stand for it? Hell, no! I will endeavour to spit, scratch and kick my way out (if it comes to that). However, I would much rather a more civil approach like bowing out and moving on to better pastures in a non-confrontational/low-drama kind of fashion. At present, I’ve been spending a lot of my free time job searching but I contacted a temping agency to see about my options for switching sectors and gaining experience through temping. They seemed really positive and requested my CV, so we shall see how it goes. Watch this space…

In terms of self-improvement, still watching those Marie Forleo videos. Only wish I had a spare £1,500 for B-school! The good thing is that a lot of the advice for getting started thinking like a modern, creative entrepreneur is totally free. I guess it’s worth looking at for next year’s intake if I’m any closer to honing in on what I want to develop, business-wise. For anyone wanting to learn more about Marie Forleo and her advice on marketing with a heart, her videos are here. I know I talk about her a lot in these blogs at the moment but I’m only just beginning to focus on an interest in business development and I really love her life-coach approach to money, business and personal development as well as the sources she draws upon. “Yay” for strong, female role models!

I’ve also been mulling over this whole website shenanigans. What benefits are there to having your own domain name? Is it possible to add things like tracking codes and coloured text if you don’t have your own domain (like a free wordpress package, for example)?

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time reaching out and trying to build a network of fellow creatives for me to draw upon, which I think is working quite well. I love reading the posts I’ve been coming across, as well as finding lots of invaluable advice on how to approach creative projects (and even life!). I particularly love shanjeniah‘s idea of a ‘Play Jar‘! I can’t wait to start making one of my own – though it may be a Play Box or a Play Tub – but still with the same intention of enjoying life through creativity and exploration of the world around me. In fact, I’ve found lots of thought-provoking insights peppered throughout her posts, but that’s for you to discover.

Guess what I watched yesterday? ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild‘! Oh my. What a beautiful film! Yes, I did indeed cry. I also made notes – it ran to about 89 minutes (89 pages) as well as my own guess on what I feel matches up to the beat sheet according to the story arc I observed. I quite enjoy this ‘excuse’ to watch a movie. I’ve not watched a film at home in about 6 months prior to starting this exercise of analysing films! The last film I watched for fun was at the cinema and it was called ‘Nebraska‘ but that was about a month ago, I think. What I loved most about ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ was actually the closing statement: That we’re “little pieces of a big universe”. It doesn’t really matter where you’re from, what your culture is, what experiences you’ve had… I think anyone can identify with that.

In terms of writing, I’ve been making notes on ideas but there’s been no ‘serious’ writing yet, though I know I’ll get to it. Just trying to get caught up on my studies so I don’t fall behind. I have started sketching out the bare bones of a new project though, entirely different to my normal stuff and something I’m aware will probably take a couple of years to flesh out (mostly because I’m the guinea pig). It essentially falls within the genre of a self-improvement though I’m not so sure if that’s where it’ll stay. It’s a long way from now though, and it may end up essentially a guidebook to the workshops I’d like to develop but, for the purposes of these blog updates, I shall refer to it as a novel. I know it’s going to flit between friendships, life and business (work-life balance?) but no idea what the end result will be yet. I may just refer to it as Down To Business (DTB) so I can separate it from other projects.

So, whilst I haven’t yet achieved what I hoped to this week, I still have a few days yet to pull it back. I’ve managed to rid myself of one post-it’s worth of tasks and activities on sustainability (FutureLearn), with just two post-it’s remaining for that. Once I’m caught up there, I can then move onto outlining my next assignment for my English degree, bang out some pages on the LITD script (currently at 16/100) then there’s time to play on research/exploration of the new project and/or other interests. Such as reading or learning something new.

11 thoughts on “Is that a vortex I see, or is the universe just pleased to see me?”

I’m not familiar with Marie Forleo. I will have to learn more about her and her work.

On the website side, you should be able to add your own domain name through WordPress; that’s what I do and I think it costs about $25/year. I’m pretty sure you still have to pay extra to edit the actual code, though. I’ve found that paying for a domain name through WordPress has worked out well, though if you want to add anything, like selling advertising or affiliate links or messing with the code, it might not be the right path.

I think the personalized URL might be the only difference. I have mine set up so that my wordpress.com site redirects to my domain name. Other than that, everything (the interface, customization options, themes, etc.) is exactly the same.

It really does seem a bit pointless then if that’s really the only benefit. Especially since the personalised part doesn’t feel very necessary at the moment and, by the time it does feel necessary, I imagine it’d be the point I launch my own webpage. Maybe.

Exactly! I love blogs and the network side of things, but it just seems like you’re cutting off so many other avenues if that’s solely what you focus on. We shall see though. Who knows what may happen in the next couple of years?

I’ve just bought “CallieWeylin.com” for a grand total of £6 a year and I’ll be purchasing the web hosting the next time I get some free cash. There’s really no rush as I don’t actually have work ready to publish yet.

I only came across this when I was watching his podcast with Holly Lisle and she talked extensively about owning your work and your own space in which to sell your work… made sense to snap up my domain name at that point.

I’ve been on blogspot/blogger forever and didn’t think about that domain name when I got started. So my writing blog is a nickname (no name brand there), where my travel and ROW80 blogs build from my name. When I first started exploring domain names, I found lots of other folks with my name who got there first, so there may be something to taking possession of your name earlier rather than later. Your comments (and posted comments) about wordpress are very interesting. I think we have to keep asking what return for what cost or input of time. Rather like the job hunt. May it be a good writing and job hunt week for you.

Thank you very much for your feedback, Beth. I’ve done general searches on my name before and, since it’s made up one, I’ve found the combination currently isn’t in use by anyone but me. As you say though, someone may get there first.